Back when I briefly worked at a bookstore, the manager once told me that during economic downturns, books still sell nicely. According to him, hard times make people look for brief respites from their money woes — thus making them spend money on relatively affordable entertainment purchases, like books, DVDs, and CDs.

I haven’t found any independent economic studies backing up said managers’ assertions, but what I do know is this: There’s no reason to pay full price for most books, DVDs, and CDs — or really, most things. Here’s a list of webby ways to get the stuff you want cheaply, organized from v. free to less free:

1. Freecycle and Craigslist. I’ve already sung the praises of Freecycle here — and I can tell you I furnished most of my apartment v. cheaply via Craigslist.

If you live in a larger metropolitan area, the Craigslist listings are so huge that you can actually go shopping for v. specific items from specific brands on the cheap! My friend Summer had her eye on a certain IKEA wardrobe for storing the eco-fashions for her green online boutique, BTC Elements — and found it on Craigslist for half price, basically saving herself half a grand.

Craigslist also has a free section that’s fun to browse — and very useful for getting rid of stuff you no longer want. David of The Good Human, for example, got rid of a whole lot of CDs and DVDs via Craigslist and Freecycle.

2. BookMooch. Exchange your used books for free (except for shipping costs). BookMooch uses a points system that basically lets you get a free book for every book you give away. In short, you’re really expanding your library!

3. Swaptree. Trade or recycle your books, DVDs, CDs, and video games with other users — free except for shipping. Just list the stuff you want to swap, and the site will use “two and three way trade algorithms” to instantly find all the people who want what you have, and have what you want. Shipping’s made easy because Swaptree’ll give you a postage label that can be printed from the computer, so you can avoid a trip to the post office. This YouTube video should give you a more detailed idea of what Swaptree has to offer.

4. Neighborrow. Borrow or lend tools and supplies to and from neighbors. Neighborrow’s an interesting site that, sadly, hasn’t attracted enough followers to make it v. useful yet. But perhaps BlogHer readers can breathe some life into this site! If you’ve ever needed some rather pricey piece of equipment — say, an electric drill — but couldn’t justify buying it for a one-time project, Neighborrow’s for you. In addition to borrowing / lending, Neighborrow lets you arrange permanent trades or giveaways for stuff you no longer need.

5. Half.com and Ebay. Some of the stuff on these sites are new, but you can find many pre-loved items at v. cheap prices on both these popular sites.

6. Throwplace. Get tax deductions by giving the stuff you don’t want to charities. Throwplace’ll let you list your unwanted stuff for charities in need to browse through and request. You will need to arrange for pickup or shipping — but shipping’s tax deductible too. The site also has sections for businesses and individuals, if you’re just looking to unload the stuff and don’t really care about the deductions.

Yep, there are other ways to get preloved stuff on the cheap. PennySaver and local newspaper / magazine classifieds are good options, as are libraries, used book stores, Blockbusters’ used DVD section, swap meets, etc. However, I’m sticking to the more webby stuff here to get you started from the comfort of your own keyboard.

Back to the book thing: Here’s a full list on how to green your reading practices. Got a good preloved eco-find story? Share it in the comments –

[crossposted on BlogHer]

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